Jiu Jitsu (2020)

Jiu Jitsu (2020)

Starring: Alain Moussi, Nicolas Cage, Frank Grillo, Tony Jaa, JuJu Chan, Rick Yune, Eddie Steeples, Marie Avgeropoulos, Marrese Crump, Ryan Tarran
Director: Dimitri Logothetis
Action Director: Supoj Khaowwong

 

Jiu Jitsu is such a bait-and-switch title for the film we actually got. If you just here the name, you’ll imagine some sort of MMA drama like Warrior, or a less savory approach to the material, like the works of Hector Ecchavaria. When the Project was announced in late 2018, it was established from the outset that the film would be a sci-fi actioner. A strange title for a martial arts movie in a sci-fi setting, but whatever. It would probably be in the vein of Heatseeker, we all thought. I enjoyed Heatseeker, it’s low budget notwithstanding, so an updated version of that would have been fun.

About three months after the production was announced, we were given an official plot synopsis sounded like it was a stealth remake of Mortal Kombat, replacing “Outworlders” with regular alien invaders. I then saw the trailer at about the time the movie came out in the States, and the result was something a little closer to the Predator franchise. Likewise, the early reviews seemed to focus on the similarities between the movie and Predator, which seems like a daft combination to be sure. So, what exactly is Jiu Jitsu?

We open with a soldier, Jake (Alain Moussi, of the recent Kicboxer reboot films), getting chased through the forests of Myanmar (played by Cypress) by an invisible opponent firing shuriken at him. He eventually gets hit twice in the back as he reaches a cliff, falling into the water and hitting his head on a rock. He miraculously doesn’t drown, but floats along the river until he is rescued by Nicolas Cage and handed over to a fisherman and his wife. They in turn take him to a local American military base (!) in order to avoid trouble.

When Jake finally regains consciousness, he is interrogated by Army Intelligence officer Myra (Marie Avgeropoulos, of Tracers and the series “The 100”). Although Jake learns that Uncle Sam has set up shop in Myanmar in order to steal its plutonium deposits, he himself is suffering from amnesia so the Army doesn’t get anything out of him. One day, a fighter named Kueng (Tony Jaa, of Ong Bak and Triple Threat) shows up at the outpost and kicks the holy shit out of all of the soldiers, rescuing Jake, whom he seems to know.

Kueng takes Jake to meet a bunch of other martial artists, including Harrigan (Frank Grillo, The Purge: Anarchy and Beyond Skyline) and Carmen (Juju Chan Szeto, of Fist of the Dragon and Savage Dog). The latter appears to have been a relationship with Jake, which really takes him aback. Before he can really learn what’s going on, they are attacked by an invisible force, followed by the arrival of the American military. The martial artists are more than capable of fending for themselves against the Yanks, although Jake gets himself recaptured by Myra. At this point, Jake remembers enough to warn the Army to get the heck out of dodge, since whatever is out there in the jungle is more than enough for the military. So, Myra, Jake and Colonel Sands (Rick Yune, of The Fast and the Furious and Die Another Day) take a platoon out into the jungle to investigate what’s going on. The platoon is quickly slaughtered by an unknown enemy and Jake, while escaping, finds the underground hideout of Wylie, played by Nicolas Cage.

Wylie fills Jake on the plot: Thousands of years ago, an immortal alien lifeform known as as “Brax” came to the Earth when a passing comet opened a portal to his world. He gave the world a gift: Jiu Jitsu. However, in exchange for this gift, Brax made an ultimatum: every six years (when the comet returned), mankind would have to make an “offering” of its nine best martial artists in order to placate Brax’s desire to fight. Otherwise, he’ll just start killing people indeterminately. As it stands, Brax has never been defeated, so the nine best fighters are basically sacrificed for the Greater Good every six years. Apparently, Jake was one of the nine fighters for this most recent offering, but ended up trying to flee, which is where we met him at the beginning of the film. The question is: will he be man enough to face his destiny and take on Brax, even when all the odds are against him?

As of January 2023, Jiu Jitsu holds a 2.9 rating at the Internet Movie Database, which is extremely low. I can’t help but wonder how much that has to do with the cognitive dissonance generated by the disconnect between the film’s title (and one’s expectations based on said title) and the actual storyline, which is a strange amalgamation of Predator and Mortal Kombat. I also think it has a lot to do with the treatment of the term of Jiu Jitsu, which in this case, is used as an umbrella term for “Martial Arts” in general, as opposed to the Japanese martial art developed in the 16^th century. Although there is a fair amount of Jiu Jitsu and ground fighting in this movie, there are other styles on display, ranging from tae kwon do to Muay Thai. I don’t think it was a good idea to use Jiu Jitsu in the title, no matter how many holds and breaks Alain Moussi performs in his fights.

Jiu Jitsu is an odd duck, no doubt about it. As I mentioned before, melding Predator with Mortal Kombat seems counterintuitive. The explanation for the MK approach to the alien’s modus operandi is a Chariots of the Gods retcon of history that suggests that Asian Martial Arts as we know them were given to us by extraterrestrials. The problem with that particular approach is that one character states that the whole Brax “tournament” has been going on for 2000 years. But martial arts had existed in China, including open-handed combat, weapons and wrestling, since the Shang Dynasty, almost 4000 years ago. So the timelines don’t really line up.

The film does have a very good cast, including the ever-meme friendly Nicolas Cage as Wylie, a fighter who’d dodged his destiny in the showdown with Brax six years prior. He plays his role with the expected Cage quirkiness, albeit stops short of going into his infamous overacting extremes. Alain Moussi is pretty one note in his role, but does well enough in his fight scenes to justify his presence in the film. Frank Grillo isn’t given a whole lot to work with, but he has a likable everyman feeling about him, even in a film like this. The only actor whose inclusion is questionable is Rick Yune as Colonel Sands: he is introduced by the characters talking to him, though he himself is off camera. Later, when the Army takes to the jungle, he just shows up in the scene. Why all the secrecy with regards to his character in the previous scenes? I suppose something was left on the editing room floor.

The action was staged by Supoj Khaowwong and Alain Moussi, the former being known for his work on the two Kickboxer reboot movies, which starred Moussi. I thought the fights were fairly solid for the most part. The best moments went to Tony Jaa, giving us one of his best fighting performances since the passing of Panna Rittikrai. His intro fight at the army base plays like a sequel to his infamous one-take restaurant fight from The Protector, with the camera following him as he makes his way around the base, beating up anyone who gets in his way. That same fight then involves Moussi, at which point it switches into first-person perspective á la The Villainess.

Marrese Crump, who stole the show in Tom Yum Goong 2, plays one of the Chosen Ones and does some nice work with a metal pole that can break off into two mini-spears. His kicks are fast and powerful, not to mention very agile. Tae kwon do champ Juju Chan doesn’t get to fight a lot, but she does impress with her nunchaku skills early on against the American soldiers. Don’t expect much from Frank Grillo: he fights some guys with two-fisted daggers, but that’s about it. The other Chosen Fighters are played by Thai model (?) June Sasitorn, Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert Rigan Machado, and veteran stuntman Dan Rizzuto, whose choreographer credits include Boss Level and Wu Assassins. Their fights, however, are short and not very flashy.

Brax the “Poetic Warrior” (to quote Nicolas Cage’s character) is played by Ryan Tarran, a veteran Hollywood stuntman. His credits include Alien: Covenant and Thor: Ragnarok, where he doubled for Chris Hemsworth on occasion. Brax fights with a mixture of jiu jitsu, sword fighting and spear fighting. His throwdowns with Marrese Crump, Nicolas Cage (and his stunt double) and finally Alain Moussi are satisfying for the most part. I was satisfied with the action on display, even though there was a bit too much slow-mo. The editing was clean for the most part, except when needed to hide Cage’s double. I don’t think the film should have been called Jiu Jitsu, from both an action and story standpoint. What would have been better? The Martial Arts? Bushido? Bujutsu? The Art of Fighting? The Warrior Arts?